Passenger Trains > Ames, Iowa; Iowas State U; Amtrak; How?

Like most denizens of the Western Board, I am geographically challenged east of Denver! This coming summer I get to / must attend a conference at Iowa State University in Ames. There does not seem to be an easy way to get to Ames from an Amtrak line (eith #5/6 or #7/8). Would it really be difficult to do or am I missing something?

john1082 Wrote:
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> Like most denizens of the Western Board, I am
> geographically challenged east of Denver! This
> coming summer I get to / must attend a conference
> at Iowa State University in Ames. There does not
> seem to be an easy way to get to Ames from an
> Amtrak line (eith #5/6 or #7/8). Would it really
> be difficult to do or am I missing something?

You mean Iowa isn't in the West? Who knew? I thoughrt all those cattle drives ended in Iowa...or was that Kansas?

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> I would take #6 to Omaha and rent a car. Not sure
> if there are any rental car locations downtown so
> a cab ride to the airport might be necessary.

This is you best bet, The drive isn't bad and you will want a car, They have buses in Ames but there will be stuff to see out side of town. Look up 2/14/11, 15:51 about fanning west of Chicago on the Western Board and print it.

hesdjjim Wrote:
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> I haven't looked at the Jefferson bus schedule
> yet, but one question, what if the train's late?
> Is this a risky connection?

Yes. Average delay over the past 3 weeks is 52 minutes. One delay was 5 hours. Most arrival times were 30 minutes or less off of timetable. To be safe, I would suggest at least a 2 hour layover.

Biggest issue I have with bus lines is that nobody shows a timetable online. They have online ticketing, but trying to find an actual timetable so you can see the 'big picture' is daunting. Trying to coordinate buses and Amtrak travel is frustrating at best. It appears to me that the bus carriers really don't want to advertise their service or possible connectivity to rail or air service. Lack of marketing or management who never uses the service is likely the culprit (same thing in public transit, I might add).

Greyhound has a hidden site for US timetables, separate from their regular public website, but not for Greyhound Canada (that I know of). Miller Transportation here in Louisville has timetables for its Hoosier Ride service across Indiana. Otherwise, good luck.

The bus from Osceola and back is a reasonable connection. I put a hypothetical date of June 3rd return June 17 in. Amtrak gets there at 7:40 am. The bus leaves Osceola at 10:10 am and arrives in Ames at 12:01 pm. Returning the bus leaves Ames at 5:00 pm and arrives at Osceola at 6:50 pm but does require a fifteen minute transfer in Des Moines. Amtrak leaves at 8:09 pm. My thoughts would be get your ticket all the way to Ottumwa. Check with Enterprise there in Ottumwa, I know that here in Cincinnati there is no penalty for canceling a rental car, as long as you remember to cancel it, even on the day of the rental. I'd plan on taking the bus from Osceola but leaving the rental car as a failure plan for if Amtrak is too late to make the connection with the bus.

Timecruncher is right. It is frustrating to have the departure box and arrival box only and not have a complete timetable schedule online. One thing to remember is there are a surprising number of people who can't read a timetable. I pick them up on the transit bus often and do my best not to ask if they were just born stupid after they have cussed me out for being late when the real problem is they are too ignorant to read the schedule they have. I don't know if this is why we don't have the timetable format schedules available for intercity bus or what.

Either way it wouldn't be a bad idea to get a rental car for a day while in Ames. You are so close to Boone and Scenic Valley and the Kate Shelly Bridge it would be a shame to be that close and say you didn't go.